Deputy mayor apologises after parking in town centre with no permit

The message left in Cllr Chung's car ANL-140521-110911001

The deputy mayor has apologised after parking in a permit only area displaying a note stating ‘be back soon thank you Cllr Patrick Chung’.

A picture of the note along with Cllr Chung’s council identification card was tweeted by a resident who questioned if it granted him the right to park where he pleased.

The Cllr who was sworn in as deputy mayor last week apologised via a statement on the council’s Facebook page.

He said: “I would like to apologise for not displaying my parking permit in Bury St Edmunds last Wednesday.

“I do own a permit and should have displayed it. I was busy attending to council matters. However I accept that is not an excuse for not displaying my permit and I will make sure it will not happen again.

“I understand that had a traffic warden seen my car, I would have received a ticket.

“I will pay the money that I should have been fined to the Mayor’s charities, Gatehouse in Bury, and the Acute Kidney Injury unit at West Suffolk Hospital.”

Cllr Chung said that he had parked in the town centre without a permit in order to visit a resident concerned about a broken pipe as part of his council duties.

He said the decision to leave the note was made in a rush as he felt the situation was urgent and he would not make the same decision again.